BBB Beer of the Week: Sam Adams Holiday Porter

I feel like I write these beer reviews 24/7, and I feel like at least 3/4 of them are Sam Adams. I think it's safe to say, I don't need to buy the seasonal samplers anymore. ]I'm pretty well versed in their portfolio. With all that said, I've got a new beer review for you and it's one that I don't think I'd ever heard of until I found it in my sampler. Here is Sam Adams Holiday Porter. 

Appearance: Classic Porter Appearance here. Holiday Porter is a dark beer, but a little light can be seen creeping throw here and there. An decent head for a Porter invites itself to the party full of tiny little bubbles.


Nose: This beer smells very good. A mixture of chocolate, caramel, and dark fruits all mingle together. Based on smell along, I was looking very forward to the first sip.

Taste: Sam Adams Holiday Porter kind of let me down here. It smells great, but there is just something missing here. I'm used to Sam Adams being the king of the well rounded flavor profile, and while the chocolate, caramel, and dark fruit smells make their way into the taste, the final product just seems to be missing something on the back end.

Style:Porter
ABV: 5.8%
IBU: 40

Final Verdict: I came by this one via the Sam Adams Winter Sampler. If they included the Holiday Porter in the 2013 mix again I wouldn't complain, but this isn't a beer I ever see myself purchasing on it's own merit in the future.

BBB Beer of the Week: Mahr's Brau Christmas Bock

Before I visited Germany earlier this year, I dabbled in German beer but was never really fully taken by it. Compared to American Craft Beers there just isn't a whole ton of flavor. But during my time there I fell in love with their straight forward flavors and I don't think I'll ever be able to get enough. It's so simple. It's so clean. In my mind's eye, it's what beer really should be. Mahr's Brau Christmas Bock, the BBB Beer of the Week, is a great example of those clean flavors I've come to love so much.

 

Appearance: This beer is beautiful. Unfortunately, I can't find anything online that does it justice. In fact, I even tried taking a picture of it myself and I couldn't get it right. I'd rather leave it up to your imagination then post a picture that doesn't convey just how pretty this beer is. The beer is a golden straw color that pours perfectly clear. It's so clear it could give some of the top notch Pilsners of the world a run for their money in the clarity department. And on top of this beautiful liquid rests a head that is like a huge thick cloud combining for one of the most picturesque beers I've had stateside.

Nose: My bias for German beer is extreme. With that said, this beer smells amazing. It's not all old school batman with the BOOM POW WACK smells you get with a lot of American craft beers. If you're looking for that, you're sure to be let down. This is all about the Malt. It smells absolutely delicious and is typical of most of the beer I sniffed in Germany. I could literally sit around for hours taking in the aroma of a beer like this.

Taste: Mahr's Brau Christmas Bock drinks clean and crisp. Every time I drink a beer like this I think it tastes like the farm. It's all about the malt. I get a touch of citrus and a bit of some other sort of fruit. Nothing over the top. Just classic German flavors. Toasty.Sweet up front and finishes with a tiny bit of hop bitterness to bring it all together.

Style: Christmas Bock
ABV: 6.0%
IBU: Not sure, but I wouldn't imagine it's above 15

Final Verdict: Like you even had to ask. There is a chance you might still come across a bottle or two now, but be sure to note this one for next winter. When describing a German beer I like to say that it's awesome in its simplicity. This Christmas Bock lives up to that description. Don't sleep on this liquid perfection.

Beer Tastings: Sam Adams Dunkelweizen

Well, I guess it's time I stop being lazy and start posting on the blog again. I think the last time I put finger to keyboard was well over a month ago. Vacation really took my momentum, but I'm back and back in a big way. The promise I'm making to myself is two beer reviews per day over the next 5 days. And since we're still in the season, most if not all of the reviews will center on fall seasonals. First up is the beer I have within arms reach, Sam Adams Dunkelweizen.

 

This is the first year I've come across their Dunkelweizen and I'm pretty happy I did. This one in particular came with the Sam Adams fall collection. I haven't seen this beer in 6 packs or single bottles so if you're looking to pick this one up the fall collection seems like your best bet.

The Dunkelweizen is essentially a dark hefeweizen. Hefeweizen is probably my favorite style of beer to drink, but it's not every day you come across dark hefe's. In fact, this might only be my second or third beer in that style. Right away, you'll notice the hefeweizen characteristics in the flavor profile. There is a banana/bubble gum flavor and a little bit of clove but what's nice is that all these flavors are all mellowed out by a nice caramel flavor that results from the toasted malt. In the end, you have a very well balanced beer that drinks incredibly smoothly even though the flavor profile isn't something you come across everyday. If you like fall beers but you're sick of Marzens and Pumpkin Ale's, this beer is worth seeking out.

Style: Dunkelweizen
ABV: 5.1
IBU: 13

Beer Tastings: Sam Adams Harvest Pumpkin Ale

Is it still fall? Good, because I've still got a ton of fall beer reviews to get through.

If you've have had one fall seasonal chances are the beer you've tasted is Sam Adams Oktoberfest. In my mind Oktoberfest is probably the highest distributed fall beer in the country. Unbeknownst to me, they also make a pumpkin beer and I was lucky enough to taste Sam Adams Harvest Pumpkin Ale recently.

 

Harvest Pumpkin Ale pours a nice caramel brown/orange color and leaves you with an ample head that's full of delicious pumpkin and traditional spice aroma. From a taste perspective, Harvest Pumpkin rates as average. Typically, Sam Adams beer always comes off as incredibly well balanced no matter which beer you're talking about. But this Ale is just missing something. You notice a fairly subtle spice flavor initially and a bit of fruit flavor on the finish, but there isn't a whole lot going on middle of the mouth. Oddly enough, the first couple of sips I took I tasted more plum flavor than I did pumpkin.

 

On the whole, Harvest Pumpkin isn't a bad beer but it's very much middle of the pack when compared to all the other pumpkin beers on the market. If you're picking one Sam Adams seasonal this fall, stick with Oktoberfest.

 

 

Style: Pumpkin Ale
ABV: 5.7
IBU:  14

Beer Tastings: Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale

Shall we keep the fall beer reviews rolling? Alright, then, let's get into another one. Today, we're talking about Weyerbacher's Imperial Pumpkin Ale. This is the first year I've had the chance to try this one out and I have a feeling I'll be adding it to the yearly rotation.

The color of Imperial Pumpkin Ale is one of the prettier pours I've made in awhile. It literally looks you are pouring liquid autumn as a medium brown/amber/light orange beer fills into your glass. Visually, you can't ask for much more.

Based off of the Imperial tag in the name I was bracing myself for a beer that might be a little harsh/alcoholy. Happily, I was greeted with a very easy drinking ale and there was none of that heavy alcohol flavor I was expecting. You do, however, find a well balanced mix of the traditional pumpkin ale spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and cardamom). Almost all of the flavor is middle of the mouth as you aren't hit with very much flavor at the beginning and you're left with just a faint pumpkin flavor on the finish.

I could really see myself getting in trouble with this beer. It drinks so smooth, but at 8% ABV it wouldn't be long before I'd be feeling it. Definitely a weekend drinker! If you happen across the Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale this fall, don't be afraid to pick this one up. In a world full of pumpkin beers, this one stands near the top.

Style: Imperial Pumpkin  Ale
ABV: 8.0
IBU:  ?

Beer Tastings: Dogfish Head Punkin Ale

I think the coolest thing about fall seasonal beers is the extra appreciation you have every time you take a sip of one of these short lived beauties. For two or three months you get to go buck wild hunting down and tasting these beers as much as you can and as often as you can. Dogfish Head Punkin Ale is one of those seasonals I can taste in my mind all year long and can't wait to taste for real every fall.

I just got back from Delaware a few days ago and was hoping that while I was on the Dogfish Brewery Tour I would get to taste some. Lucky, I was not, finding none on the tour, and to add salt to the wound I saw that they had some on tap literally two days after I visited their brewpub. Yesterday, however, my urges were satiated when I finally hunted one down at Bobby's Burger Palace in Hanover.

As I said when I checked into this beauty on untappd, this beer is worth it's weight in gold. The taste is incredible. I don't know how they do it, but the flavor they get from their spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, and all spice) is so well balanced and prominent without ever being cloying. Many times the sharp flavor from these spices takes your taste buds for hostage. Here you just get wonderful flavor and if you close your eyes you almost feel like you're eating the best pumpkin pie you've ever had in your life. If I had to guess, I'd say the brown sugar is what keeps this Ale so well balanced. The extra sweetness and subtle maple flavor does a great job of taking a lot of the bite out of all the other strong spice flavors.

If you don't like beer, try this one out. I guarantee it will make you look at beer in a whole new light. Punkin Ale is that approachable, but it's not so dumbed down that a craft brew veteran won't also be happy. Take my advice and get one ASAP. Punkin Ale is one fall beer you don't want to pass on until September 2013. If the Mayans are right, this is your last chance and it'd be a damn shame for the world to end having never tasted a Punkin Ale.

Style: Brown Ale
ABV:7.0
IBU:  28

Beer Tastings: Tommyknocker Small Patch Pumpkin Harvest

It's time for another beer tasting. Today, we're going with another fall seasonal, Tommyknocker's Small Patch Pumpkin Ale.

I'm not going to mince words with this one. This is an odd Pumpkin Ale for a variety of reasons. You'll notice in the picture above that the color of this is much darker than the typical pumpkin ale. Usually, you're looking for something a little more orange in color, but this is borderline dark brown.

From a taste point of view Small Patch Pumpkin Ale throws another curveball your way. The pumpkin flavor, at least in regards to my palate, is basically non-existent. When drinking a pumpkin ale a lack of actual pumpkin flavor is pretty disappointing. In it's place is a very prominent molasses/caramel flavor. Now, that flavor has it's place in the world of beer but I'm not sure how it fits into the pumpkin ale realm. Even the traditional spices of cinnamon and nutmeg were underplayed here.

If I were judging this without having any idea what type of beer it was, I probably would have scored this as an above average beer (despite my dislike of molasses). But going in expecting a pumpkin ale and walking away with something completely different, I really don't see myself drinking a Small Patch Pumpkin Ale this fall.

Style: Pumpkin Ale
ABV: 5.0
IBU: 15